Sequels are extremely hard, especially when you have a completely different person in the director’s chair and the first film was a massive hit. The first Deadpool relied on Ryan Reynold’s charm, crude jokes, and kickass major fight-to-the-death scenes that earned the film’s R-rating. All of that paid off. Deadpool became the second highest grossing R-rated movie in U.S. history after Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. And, if you’re wondering, yes, the sequel does mention this achievement.
As for the film’s sequel, Deadpool 2 uses the same elements as the original film, including breaking the fourth wall, mentioning Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, mocking the X-Men, tons of pop culture references, and, of course, plenty of penis jokes. Sure, the jokes are funny and the surprise cameos will pleasantly shock you, but it really felt predictable and more of the same thing.
In Deadpool 2, after experiencing a painful loss, Wade Wilson (Reynolds) loses the will to live — even attempting suicide, which fails as his body is indestructible. He finds comfort in his X-Men friends and attempts to join their team, but later realizes he doesn’t fit into their lifestyle. Instead, he finds comfort when he mentors a young troubled mutant, Russell (Julian Dennison).
Our antagonist, Cable (played by Avengers: Infinity War’s Josh Brolin, who you don’t hate in this film), traveled from the future in order to hunt Russell down, who we learn becomes an all-powerful and evil mutant set to destroy the world. Wilson then decides to form a team called X-Force in order to stop Cable from killing the boy.
In a short comedic scene, we are introduced to random Marvel properties such as Bedlam (Terry Crews), Shatterstar (Lewis Tan), Zeitgeist (Bill Skarsgård), and the Vanisher. We are also introduced to Domino (Zazie Beetz), a new recruit to the X-Force team, whose superpower is being lucky, and the film’s saving grace. Beetz’s Domino was one of the best parts in the film, stealing every scene with her comedic timing and overall badass fighting. It’s unfortunate that Beetz and the other members of the X-Force were reduced to just supporting characters. Brolin, who honestly felt like a waste of his time and talent, also didn’t get enough opportunity to showcase Cable’s backstory.
Of course, we know that the film is all about Wilson and he doesn’t like to share the spotlight. It was literally stated in the opening credits.
The fight sequences were completely unmemorable, which is a bit disappointing considering director David Leitch directed the brilliant action scenes in last year’s Atomic Blonde. In this film, the fight scenes relied too much on CGI, and, at one point in the film, Wilson broke the fourth wall to point it out.
Despite the film’s flaws, Deadpool 2 was fun to sit through and laugh at the witty references to other sci-fi and superhero films. Although this may not have been my favorite installment of the franchise, the mid-credits scene was hilarious and, probably, takes the cake for best all-time favorite mid-credits scenes. So, if all else, stay for the credits.
Deadpool 2 opens in theaters this Friday.